Construction of stud buildings, and in particular metal stud buildings, requires the installation of backing spans, supports, or blocks between the studs for structural support of wall mounted fixtures and other wall hung or wall mounted items. The blocking or backing pieces are installed after the steel or other material studs are already in place at intervals generally with 16 inch (40.6 cm) or 24 inch (61 cm) on center spacing. During erection of the steel or other material frame, however, variation inevitably occurs in the spacing of the studs, for example, up to 3 inches (7.6 cm) and greater. Thus, the spacing of studs erected to specifications 16 inches (40.6 cm) on center may actually vary, for example, from 141/2 inches (36.8 cm) to 171/2 inches (44.5 cm) and greater.
Furthermore, steel and other metal studs are generally manufactured with a three sided cross section, one longer width or wider dimension side referred to as the "web" and two shorter width sides extending from the web referred to as the "flanges" terminating in curled edges. The metal studs are conventionally erected with the webs oriented on the same side in the same direction. However, some of the studs are typically inadvertently reversed during placement further contributing to variation in the spacing between the webs of the studs.
As a result, the blocking pieces or backing pieces must be custom fitted for each metal stud building project. The blocking is cut from dimension lumber such as, for example, 2 inch (5 cm) by 6 inch (15 cm) dimension lumber. The dimension lumber is cut to custom lengths by manually measuring the space between the webs of the metal stud at the desired blocking or backing levels and custom cutting the lengths of wood to fit each space. The blocking or backing is typically installed at different levels of the wall, for example, at 2 feet (61 cm), 4 feet (1.2 m) and 6 feet (1.8 m). The blocking or backing pieces must be secured to the studs flush with the face of the walls to provide a flat bearing framework for the wall and this is generally accomplished by nailing through the metal studs into the blocking pieces, either into the end of the blocking pieces through the webs or into the face of the blocking pieces through the flanges. It is apparent that considerable planning and high labor intensity is necessary to provide adequate blocking or backing according to the conventional custom measuring and cutting manual method.